55th Grammy Award Nominations--Luke James, SWV, and Tamia Get Nods!

For those of you that did not get a chance to tune into the 55th Grammy Awards nominations show last night, below is the list of the R&B categories. The show was held in Nashville, TN last night and featured an array of performers while hosted by rapper/actor LL Cool J and country star, Taylor Swift.  For the complete list of nominees, go here.

Best R&B Performance
Thank You - Estelle
Gonna Be Alright (f.t.b.) - Robert Glasper Experiment featuring Ledisi
I Want You - Luke James
Adorn - Miguel
Climax - Usher

Best Traditional R&B Performance
Lately - Anita Baker
Love On Top - Beyoncé
Wrong Side Of A Love Song - Melanie Fiona
Real Good Hands - Gregory Porter
If Only You Knew - SWV

Best R&B Song
Adorn - Miguel Pimentel, songwriter (Miguel)
Beautiful Surprise - Tamia Hill, Claude Kelly & Salaam Remi, songwriters (Tamia)
Heart Attack - Benjamin Levin, Rico Love & Tremaine Neverson, songwriters (Trey Songz)
Pray For Me - Antonio Dixon, Kenny Edmonds, Anthony Hamilton & Patrick "jque" Smith, songwriters (Anthony Hamilton)
Refill - Darhyl "dj" Camper, Elle Varner & Andrew "pop" Wansel, songwriters (Elle Varner)

Best Urban Contemporary Album
Fortune - Chris Brown
Kaleidoscope Dream - Miguel
Channel Orange - Frank Ocean

Best R&B Album
Black Radio - Robert Glasper Experiment
Back To Love - Anthony Hamilton
Write Me Back - R. Kelly
Beautiful Surprise - Tamia
Open Invitation - Tyrese

Eric Benet & Faith Evans "Christmas Without You"

There's nothing I love more than Soul/R&B Christmas music, and two of my favorite singers, Eric Benet and Faith Evans did not fail to disappoint. The mid-tempo "Christmas Without You" talks about being without the one you love on Christmas. Take a listen and leave a comment on what you think.

New Album Releases: Faith Evans "R&B Divas" and Miguel's "Kaleidoscope Dreams"

Veteran R&B singer Faith Evans and the seemingly overnight new R&B sensation, Miguel both have new albums in stores today.  The success of the hit TVOne reality series, R&B Divas, coincides the release of Faith's new album with the same name, featuring her co-stars Monifah, Syleena Johnson, Keke Wyatt, and Nicci Gilbert along with Kelly Price, Fantasia, and Gilbert's mom, Helene "Mom" Gilbert. The proceeds from the album will benefit a charity in honor of Evans' close friend and mentor, the late Whitney Houston. The show follows the lives of the singers' lives and shows how they deal with balancing life, family, and reviving their careers. Although I wasn't too crazy about that "Dumb" single that Faith recently released, I love that "Tears of Joy" record. Faith hasn't released an album since 2010 and it's great to hear from some of my favorite R&B female artists. Excited to see how well this project does. I'm sure Whitney would be proud.

I didn't want to like the "Adorn" song. Perhaps because people were hyping it before I had a chance to listen to it. You know how can wear out a song before it's even marinated yet. But gradually my reluctant foot tapping changed to me singing along with Miguel at the top of my lungs while getting ready for work. (Don't act like I'm the only one!) Since his 2010 debut album, All I Want Is You, he has released music steadily online before his smash breakout #1 single, "Adorn "off new sophomore release, Kaleidoscope Dream, that drops today. I gave the album a listen yesterday, and I give it two thumbs up! Most artists have a hard time outdoing their debut albums and getting over their sophomore slump, but I think Miguel can only go higher from this point in his career. Definitely the most deserving, highly anticipated album of the year.

I love what R&B artists are doing right now.  Now go out and support both artists!